International terrorists increasingly use private cryptocurrencies to funnel funds for their criminal activities, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov said on Wednesday
SOCHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) International terrorists increasingly use private cryptocurrencies to funnel funds for their criminal activities, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the opening of the 18th meeting of heads of special services, security and law enforcement agencies of FSB partner states, Bortnikov noted that terrorists were strengthening their financial base.
According to the FSB chief, shell companies that are created by terrorists trade on stock exchanges, invest in real estate and other sectors of the economy.
"[Terrorists] boost the fundraising through electronic payment services, crowdfunding online platforms, as well as informal value transfer system Hawala," Bortnikov said.
He also noted that "increasingly, so-called private cryptocurrencies are used as they guarantee the anonymity of transactions unlike Bitcoin and its analogs."
